The Silver Siren (4 page)

Everyone rushed from the barn to try
and help, leaving me alone in the stall on the floor with Mona
nearby chained to a support beam. Darren was smart enough to
release the horses, because the smell of smoke would drive them
crazy. Hopefully they would find a place to graze out of the way
and we’d find them again come morning.

GO!
I commanded Faraway. He paced nervously in his stall, wanting
to stay but needing to run.

I’ll be fine,
I lied. He ran outside.

I tried to crawl out of the stall to
see out the open barn doors, but deep down I knew it was too late.
Too late for the farmer and his wife and too late for me. In that
miraculous instant, I had seen what was coming and had to make a
decision to save myself or try to save the farmer and his
wife.

I chose them.

The fire was too far gone, the blaze
too hot to have been caused by something as simple as a candle or
lantern. The house had been purposely set on fire as a distraction.
I saw Kael burst through the front doors of the farmhouse and heard
the clash of steel as he met a group of hidden
attackers.

Darren and Hemi followed suit, dashing
in with sword and axe drawn. Joss stayed outside and tried to
smother the fire with magic. Slowly the flames were dying down. If
only the screams would die down as well.

My vision became blurry as smoke
started to billow into the barn. Tears poured out of my eyes. I
collapsed on the floor in pain and let the burning of my body
mirror the burning of the house. How I wished I could have stopped
it.

And stop what I was about to have to
do.

A rough hand grabbed the back of my
hair and lifted my throbbing head off of the floor.

“
It’s been a while, hasn’t
it, Thalia?” A large grungy man scowled down at me, his clothes
covered with dirt. It looked like he had been on the run. It was
Talbot—Xiven and Mona’s fake father, and one of the Raven’s
apprentices it seemed. But I had known he was coming. I had seen
it.

He pulled me up by my hair and I had
little choice but to follow him or have my hair pulled out of my
scalp.

“
You are coming with me,”
he snarled.

A man in a red robe appeared next to
Talbot and grabbed me around the hands. He began tying them
together.

“
Wait, what about me?”
Mona yelled, kicking her feet angrily against the floor.

“
What about you?” Talbot
looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

“
You can’t leave me here!”
She fumed.

“
I have no orders
regarding you,” he laughed cruelly. “Only her.” He motioned to
me.

Too bad, I thought to myself. I waited
in pain until more Septori filtered in through the back door of the
barn. By the noises coming from outside, I knew my friends were
facing their own battle. So I blocked Faraway from my thoughts and
hoped that Kael was distracted.

And just as I had known what was about
to happen, I knew what I was supposed to do. I let the pain consume
me, let my anger rise to the surface, and I gave in to it. Gave in
to the burning. Throwing my head back, I screamed painfully and
released all of the built up, barely-contained power I had been
holding in. I let the fire out. I let the monster out, and once I
did, the pain consuming me stopped.

The barn burst into flames, the
Septori burst into flames, and Talbot screamed as he beat at his
clothes to stop the fire. The fire shot across the beams of the
barn.

The Septori in a panic, tried to drag
me out of the barn.

The shriek of a horse made me glance
to Faraway, and I saw him outside of the barn screaming in
terror.

He was going to try and run in to save
me. With a wave of power, I slammed the barn door closed on him,
keeping him out. I was going to end this once and for all. I had a
glimpse of what I was becoming and I didn’t like it.

“
Burn,” I whispered and
watched as the flames licked higher. Energy flowed through my body,
and I could hear something just beyond my consciousness. Like a
sigh being released. My body became warm, tingling. And then more
pain.

“
Her eyes. Look at her
eyes!” One of my captors backed away from me and ran out the side
door.

“
Don’t look at her, just
grab her!” Talbot screamed.

I felt more hands grasp me and I hated
it. I hated them. Looking up along the beams of the barn, I saw the
main support beam.

It was time to end this for everyone..
I gave in to the pain and anger, reached for a smaller support
beam, and pulled at it. Half of the burning roof came down on a
large group of the Septori. They screamed and tried to cover their
heads as it fell. Too late.

“
Stop her! She’s going to
kill us all,” Talbot cried waving his hands at me.

I smirked. I was.

Mona screamed in fright and pulled
against her chains helplessly.

I frowned. I felt a moment of
hesitation at killing her along with myself. The power was a drug.
I looked at her in the corner and some part of me didn’t care
whether she lived or died. This was the part I had been fighting to
keep inside. This is what I was becoming and I hated.

Pulling back on the power, I shouted
and tried to yank it back and contain it within myself again. The
flames were less hungry, less powerful. The burning Septori were
finally able to gain control and douse the flames on their
body.

The barn would still burn, still fall,
but not at my command. Not yet. I felt only a moment’s regret that
I had not gone through with the plan in my head, that I had not
been able to kill myself and the Septori along with me. Kill the
monster within me that was trying to get out.

The roar in my ears was deafening as I
pulled the power back in and the pain returned. I collapsed into
darkness.

~~~

And that’s all I remembered before
waking up in the cave, bound and listening to the Septori discuss
me.

What had I done? I didn’t go through
with it. My vision had ended and I couldn’t see my future beyond
the present. Somehow I knew that even though I tried to save them,
the farmer and his wife had died in that fire. What became of the
rest of our group, I didn’t know. I had seen what would befall them
if they stayed in the barn with me, which was why I tried to alter
what I saw. I hoped I could save them if I killed myself and the
Septori.

But I hadn’t gone through with it. I’d
changed my mind at the last minute and saved Mona, who was a member
of the Septori. Had I lost my mind?

Apparently so.

I couldn’t hear the leader’s voice
anymore, so I knew Talbot must have left the cave. Could he and the
remaining Septori be outside laying in wait? It was still night, so
only a few hours had passed. My only guess was that they were
setting a trap for Kael. Why? I hadn’t seen any results from
whatever experiments they’d done on him. But obviously their leader
wanted us both. Could they know about our bond?

I thought back to my conversation with
Talbot in Skyfell before he escaped with a skite. He said he wasn’t
going to come for me but would let me come to him. Had he changed
his mind or was there someone else involved as well?

Someone yanked the sack off of my
head. I’d been so lost in thought that I didn’t hear him come over.
My eyes flew open and I saw a young man with pimples. He grimaced
when he looked into my eyes. He had pulled off his red robe and had
it tucked under his arm. I had yet to see my eyes, so I could only
imagine what they looked like to send such fear into
him.

“
See? She’s alive,” he
yelled over his shoulder.

“
Quick, someone’s coming.
Knock her out so she doesn’t warn anyone.” The now familiar voice
yelled into the darkness. The young pimple-faced Septori grabbed my
head, pinched my nose, and poured a draft into my mouth.

The taste was different. I was
actually shocked to realize they’d switched tactics. It was a
sleeping draft. I fought against my eyelids as huge weights seemed
to tug them down.

The young man jumped up and moved into
the shadows of the cave, blade in hand. A few moments later, I saw
the familiar outline of Kael at the entrance to the cave. Walking
right into a trap.

“
Wait!” I tried to
whisper, fighting against the sleeping draft.

Kael kept walking, oblivious to the
trap.

I heard swords being drawn behind him.
The Septori closed in.

He was outnumbered and
cornered.

Chapter 6

The
scent of leather and musk encompassed me and I felt warm,
protected. I almost started to cry. My head throbbed and couldn��t
concentrating, but I could never forget the scent that I associate
with Kael.

Only I couldn’t understand
how.

Then I realized the pounding in my
head wasn’t actually my head, but the sound of horse’s hooves on a
road. I was swaying side to side. Nausea hit me, and I sat up.
Strong hands held onto me.

“
Stop. Please stop,” I
begged.

The horse and rider slowed to a
standstill. Carefully, I held onto the saddle and slid to the
ground, testing my legs. I walked a few feet on my own before going
further toward a stream.

The rider dismounted as well and
followed a few feet behind me. There was little doubt in my mind as
to who the rider was—no one else smelled like Kael—but I found I
couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I had to know
first.

Stopping every couple of feet to
regain my balance, I made my way to the stream.

Kael never spoke a word.

Kneeling down, I leaned over to look
at my face. I couldn’t see anything. The river was rushing too fast
and the sun was at the wrong angle. I saw nothing but
water.

“
No!” I cried and touching
the water in disbelief. Something was hideously wrong with my face
and I couldn’t even see it.

“
What’s wrong?” Kael’s
soothing voice finally tried to calm me as his hands touched my
shoulders lightly, trying to turn me toward him.

“
Something’s wrong with my
face. I’m a monster. Don’t look at me.” I tucked my chin toward my
chest and closed my eyes.

“
Shh. Thalia, that’s not
true. There’s nothing wrong with your face.”

“
No I heard them; they
said I was a monster, Kael. I know what I heard.” I used my hands
to cover my face in horror.

Kael tore a band of cloth from the
bottom of his shirt and dipped it into the cold river. He began
wiping away the dirt and ashes from my face.

Jerking from the coldness, I tried to
pull away. Kael held me firmly but gently. “How am I supposed to
tell you what you look like if you are covered in
ashes?”

Keeping my eyes closed, I let Kael
wipe all of the dirt and soot from my face. The act was in itself
kind, sensual, and completely out of character for the
SwordBrother.

When he finished, he ran his fingers
down my face and cupped my cheeks. “Thalia, open your
eyes.”

“
I’m scared
to.”

“
I’m here, remember? I’ll
keep the bad things away,” Kael said softly. “I’ve kept my promise
so far haven’t I?”

He had.

Besides, if my eyes really were that
grotesque, he could handle it.

I opened my eyes, keeping my head
down. I raised them to focus on Kael’s knees and slowly, ever so
slowly, worked my way up. This was the first time that I had looked
at him since last night. He was covered in soot and ash as well.
One arm was bandaged, and blood seeped from a wound on his bicep.
His neck had a large scratch on it and his chin was
burned.

My eyes froze on his lips as I
remembered the kiss we’d shared, and a longing came over me to kiss
him again. But I pushed it aside and traveled higher until I met
his eyes.

Kael’s eyes widened in surprise and
his breath caught in his throat.

I had startled the
SwordBrother.

My hands started to tremble and I
grasped his shirt for dear life. “Tell me.” My voice shook. “Tell
me what you see.”

Kael started to breathe again, though
his gaze never left my eyes. His thumb gently rubbed my
cheek.

“
I see
you,
Thalia. You.”

“
What else, Kael? What’s
wrong with my eyes?”

“
Nothing’s wrong. It’s
beautiful.”

“
It?” I cried,
confused.

“
It’s silver. One of your
eyes turned silver.”

I didn’t believe him.

“
Thalia, one is blue and
one is silver.” He chuckled still holding my face.

“
Eww!” I scrunched up my
face at him in disgust. “How horrible.” I would have said more, but
Kael’s eyes turned stormy in disapproval.

“
I think I’ll be the judge
of that.”